Throughout the festive season, I'll be working with my team of engineers and operational field staff to make sure our South Eastnetwork delivers the electricity our customers need for a warm, safe and happy Christmas.
We have over 750,000 customers living and working across the South East in areas including Hampshire, Portsmouth, West Sussex and the Isle of Wightand they rightly expect a safe and reliable supply of electricity all year round, and especially during the festive season. We will be working over Christmas to be able to respond to and identify any issues, and give our customers peace of mind.
We understand how important Christmas is to so many of our customers. That's why my team and I are rescheduling our holidays, keeping the turkey in the freezer a little longer and planning our festivities for the start of the new year. We'll be working on shifts throughout the holidays to make sure the right people are available 24 hours a day to keep the power flowing.
Across our South East infrastructure, we have to contend with birds, trees and weather than can sometimes cause unplanned power cuts. All year round we are ready to climb poles, repair cables and replace transformers to get you safely back on supply as soon as possible. Christmas Day is no different and along with my team, we'll be quietly working in the background to help you enjoy this special time of the year.
As providers of essential services we have worked throughout the year during lockdowns and in adherence with government guidelines on coronavirus. A resilient supply of electricity has been so important this year, and we are ready to respond to ensure people are able to enjoy this festive period after a difficult year.
Working virtually with parishcouncils and local resilience groups, we have prepared for periods of unsettled weather or faults to ensure in the unlikely event that anything happens, we are ready to respond quickly and safely. If any of our customers are concerned or may need extra support during a fault we offer a free Priority Services Register to sign up to, which allows us to tailor support according to customer need. Information is available at www.ssen.co.uk/psr. You can help us as well. If you spot any damage to our network give us a call on 105 and we will send an engineer to investigate.
I am proud to play a part in supporting the delivery of an essential service that warms our homes, cooks our Christmas dinners, powers up those new toys delivered by Santa Claus and lets us charge the tablets and phones we use to contact our loved ones.
On behalf of all my team, I would like to wish everyone across the South East a Merry Christmas.